Bill Segal's son arrested on drug charges

Zachary Segal was arrested Monday night after a deputy found what appeared to be crack cocaine in his vehicle.

Zachary Segal, the 28-year-old son of Orange County mayoral… (Orange County Sheriff's…)

October 28, 2010|By Anika Myers Palm, Orlando Sentinel

Zachary Segal, the 28-year-old son of Orange County mayoral candidate Bill Segal, was arrested this week on drug charges, according to the sheriff's office.

A deputy observed Segal stopped in a high-crime area at Kaley and Lee streets about 9:03 p.m. Monday, according to the arrest report.

According to the report, Segal was in a yellow Ford Focus that was stopped in the middle of the street. The deputy said he saw another man leaning in the front window of the car, leading him to believe the two were in the middle of a hand-to-hand drug transaction.

After the deputy searched Segal's vehicle tag in a database and determined that it had expired Oct. 18, he turned on the patrol car's lights and sirens and stopped Segal's vehicle.

Segal "appeared to be very nervous by his hands violently shaking" and making furtive movements, according to the report. The investigating deputy said Segal "kept digging around in his vehicle as if he was looking for something or trying to hide something."

When the deputy asked Segal whether there was anything illegal in the vehicle, Segal responded "Not that I know of," according to the report. The deputy also determined that Segal's driver license had expired.

A narcotics K-9 unit responded to the scene and a narcotics dog indicated that the vehicle contained narcotics.

The deputy searched the vehicle and discovered "two really small pieces of hard white substance in the driver door pocket that appeared to be crack cocaine." The car also had what the deputy said look like a 10-inch-long tin foil pipe as well as several pieces of foil with burn marks.

An on-scene test of the white substance indicated that the substance might be cocaine, according to the report.

Segal was arrested and charged with possession of cocaine, a felony. He has since bonded out of Orange County Jail.

Segal's mother, Sara Segal, responded to the scene, according to the sheriff's office.

Records show Zachary Segal did not have a prior arrest history in Orange County. Court records show he was charged with careless driving and racing in Seminole County after a crash in 2002.

He later entered a plea of no contest, and paid a civil fine for careless driving.

Segal's parents, Bill and Sara Segal, said in a prepared statement late Thursday that they support their son.

"We respect law enforcement and we also love our son and will stand by him through the legal process. We hope the media will keep in mind that our son is not a public figure and respect his privacy during this difficult time," they said.

Jeff Weiner and David Damron of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report.